The present invention relates generally to agricultural machines and, more particularly, to a control unit for use in an agricultural harvester having a feed path and for controlling machine elements which interact along the feed path.
The control unit being considered is for forage harvesters, combine harvesters and other agricultural harvesting machines. The mutually adjustable machine elements may be of various constructions or arrangements. For example, in the case of forage harvesters used for chopping corn, two so-called cracker rollers must be adjusted relative to one another to release the grains of corn. In the case of combine harvesters, the concave and threshing cylinder must be mutually adjusted. The machine elements or groups of elements under consideration are usually located within or along the feed path for the crop.
The harvesting machines discussed above are available in a wide variety. Consequently, two laterally disposed stops are needed for each machine element or for each group of elements. Historically, these stops have been in the form of bolts that can be screwed-in or out of a threaded member. Alternately, the stops have been wedge-shaped segments that were indirectly driven between a fixed and an adjustable machine element. The machine elements needed for the adjustment process are usually arranged on rocker arms, levers or the like. Adjustments made with bolts are laborious and imprecise because the adjustments are made without the assistance of calipers, measuring instruments or the like. Moreover, the levers or rocker arms that support the elements being adjusted are subject to wear so that adjustments become more imprecise in the course of time.